This is the last posting which continues the common terms and definitions found in the Wetlands Management Book*.

Water Quality Certification - Statement from the state water quality agency that the project complies with pertinent State and Federal water quality regulations. Required for Section 404 permits under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and 33 CFR 320.4(d).

Water table - For purposes of wetland delineation, “the zone of saturation at the highest average depth during the wettest season; it is at least six inches thick and persists in the soil for more than a few weeks” (USDA Soil Conservation Service 1991).

Waters of the United States - “The term 'waters of the United States' means (1) all waters which are currently used, or were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide; (2) all interstate waters including interstate wetlands; (3) all other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds, the use, degradation or destruction of which could affect interstate or foreign commerce...; (4) all impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under the definition; (5) tributaries of waters identified in [items] (1)-(4) [of this definition]; (6) the territorial seas; (7) wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are themselves wetlands) identified in [items] (1)-(6) [of this definition]” (33 CFR 328.3(a)). [The NEW definition of waters of the U.S. as described by The Clean Water Rule (2015) is currently being considered by our nation’s appellant courts. There is a nationwide court-ordered stay on The Clean Water Rule (as of October 9, 2015), until challenges to the rule have been decided by the court system.]

Wetland hydrology - In general terms, permanent or periodic inundation or prolonged soil saturation sufficient to create anaerobic conditions in the soil.

Wetlands - “Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas” (33 CFR 328.3(b) and 40 CFR 230.3(t)).